First Lesson

[NYTrumpet2018]

Had my first lesson last Saturday and I can say I honestly sound like a duck who swallowed a foghorn. ( guess I am ready for the stage now )

My instructor has me learning from Ed Sueta Band Method Book.

First lesson he just told me to blow in the mouthpiece, then stuck it in the trumpet and had me do a few lessons in the book with him. I told him I only hear crap coming out of it and he said of course, it is your first day. But he did not try and correct my embouchure or anything else. Is this normal? I am sure there are a millions different techniques taught by a million different teachers.
Any average time it take a beginner to go from daffy duck to producing a pleasant sound?

[trumpet.trader]

Baby steps. Gotta start making a sound before there is anything to correct.

To get the feel, does he have you buzzing on the mouthpiece as well? Trying to make siren undos going up and down? I’ve had success with this with beginning students trying to get a first established sound.

[Andy Del]

Learning to play the trumpet is exactly that - LEARNING how to play. After one lesson, most are not able to produce a great sound, etc. etc. etc.

Your issue is not the sound you make, but your attitude to your teacher, what you have paid for and how you are progressing from that point.

It is imperative you trust your teacher and follow their advice. After all, they know more than you do (I hope) and have your best interest in mind. Remember you do NOT know what they do, an this is not a paint by numbers activity. It takes time, commitment and belief in yourself to progress.

Your best action is to stop posting and questioning your teacher and go practice. Harsh, but true...

cheers

Andy
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so many horns, so few good notes...

[jscahoy]

I think I had a couple years of lessons before I ever even heard the word "embouchure".

[Nonsense Eliminator]

[Billy B]

[trumpet.trader]

Not to disagree with the other posters, but there is NOTHING wrong with doing research and asking questions about your new endeavor.

Of course listen to your teacher, but he is not omnipotent and sometimes hearing a different idea may make something spark in your head, even the same idea your teacher presented just hearing it said a different way.

With the internet and YouTube instruction videos and so much literature that was never available years ago, I say have at it! Absorb all you can. And enjoy learning a new instrument.

You may have a great teacher, or a so-so teacher. Either way he is NOT Yoda.

And there is nothing wrong with inquiring from other players or teachers. When I first started I had several teachers. Some good, some average, some almost worthless. But I learned a little something from all of them. I also got help and tips from more advanced players, and was always picking the brains of pros anytime I had the chance.

[TrpPro]

[Billy B]

[Turkle]

Ha! I mean, I love this website, but my goodness, there is WAY more bad advice on here than good advice. That's not surprising - that's a general feature of the internet! But about 95% of the advice given on here is horrifyingly bad or misleading.

This is a great place to "shoot the bull" about trumpet playing. It's a terrible place to learn to play! And I stress I don't mean that in a negative way, that's just the internet for you.

Anyway, I've posted over 1700 times, so I must be getting something from this site... I think...
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Yamaha 8310Z trumpet
Yamaha 8310Z flugel
Curry 3.

[Brad361]

[NYTrumpet2018]

Thank you for all the replies.
I was not trying to say my instructor is wrong or bad ( or good for that matter) since I do not know what bad or good is at this point. I was merely asking for opinions from others who have progressed past the stage I am in.

[Craig Swartz]

There is very good advice above, use it. FWIW- it sounds like you are an adult (well, perhaps not from your OP... ), if so, you already know what a trumpet is supposed to sound like. Sit down and start making yourself sound like you're playing a trumpet, even if it's only on a 1st line E for 4 beats. When you change notes, keep sounding like the best trumpet player you've ever heard. It's your job to learn, which is actually teaching yourself. Listen to your teacher's advice and sit down with the horn and figure it out. Really, pal, that's about what every one of us out here had to do...

[MikeyMike]

Let me save you YEARS of time and effort scouring this forum. Here are some helpful tips I've learned here over the years and condensed into one short list...

SURGEON GENERAL'S HEALTH ALERT: Those of you who have had a successful sense-of-humor bypass operation are advised to skip this post.

Now on to step one.

Trumpet selection: This is key, so let's start at the start. You need to choose between a large bore trumpet and a small bore trumpet. Playing a large bore trumpet is like trying to fill a fire hose with air. Smaller bore trumpets are more efficient and won’t exhaust you after four measures. But keep in mind, small bore trumpets are really stuffy and kill your sound. Only a big bore trumpet will allow you and your sound to really open up. Now....

There IS a Holy Grail of trumpets out there but the guys who tell you THEY have it are just trying to convince you to take their old trumpet off their hands so they can buy something decent. You've been warned.

Mouthpiece: It’s CRITICALLY important to select the right mouthpiece. If you want to play high notes, make sure to get a high note mouthpiece. Of course, a so-called high-note mouthpiece will choke your sound to the point you sound like a herd of mosquitoes. Good luck getting a gig playing one of those. If it’s great sound you want, do like most working pros and get a larger mouthpiece. Or do what we do. Get high notes AND great sound. Buy a bunch of mouthpieces. Change ‘em around like supermodels change hair dos.

Embouchure. This is how you hold your lips together. Or apart. Also spelled “ombisher,” “ambusher,” “ombitcher,” and “armbrewster,” for Frank Armbrewster the guy who worked in the old Couturier factory and invented it back in ’98. 1898, that was. There are more of these than there are spellings and you’d better get the right one. Just ask. You’ll get plenty of help on this one, all right.

Buzzing: This is probably the best thing you can do to develop your skills. Don’t pick up your trumpet, DON’T EVEN LOOK AT IT for two or three months. Just BUZZ. When you do pick up the trumpet you’ll have a three octave range on day one. Of course, buzzing will destroy your sound, making it - for lack of a better term - buzzy. Annoyingly buzzy. And nobody wants that.

High notes.Want to play high notes? Play high notes. Lots of them. Every day. You can’t do it unless you practice it. Or you could just work on low notes. They are the foundation of good sound and NOTHING - I repeat - NOTHING will help your high note development more than playing low notes.

The pencil trick: Hold a pencil between your lips for a couple of minutes each day. Just about every high note play out there does this religiously. On the other hand, hundreds of other players have ended their careers from the permanent damage done to their embouchures with this method.


The INOGTH Method.This is the ONE method that works best. Learn it, practice it and use it. You’ll have success beyond your wildest dreams. Deviate from it in ANY way and it’s all over. Why, just the mention of a different method around here could result in ridicule, arguments, and worse yet, double secret probation. I will tell you that INOGTH stands for “Insert Name Of Great Trumpeter Here” but I’m not allowed to reveal the actual name of the player or the method. You’ll have to figure that out for yourself. Watch out for cheap substitutes.


SERIOUS STUFF FOLLOWS:
You'll get all sorts of conflicting info here. Every bit of what I've typed above - contradictory as it is - can be found somewhere on this site. Lots of good stuff and good people here but you'll find lots of dogmatic one-size-fits-all approaches as well. It can be confusing to an experienced player, even worse for a beginner. Trumpet playing can't be taught or learned in a forum.


Trust your teacher. It takes time. If you don't trust your teacher, you're in trouble. And if you truly have GOOD REASON not to trust him, find another teacher.
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Ahh... that old case smell.

[Dieter Z]

[trumpet_cop]

[Pops]

AS a professional teacher I can honestly say that after only 1 lesson you don't have an embouchure yet.
You need to build some strength and some sense of blowing a steady stream of air... But now is not the time to worry about embouchure advice.

I do however like to have beginners lip buzz and learn to lip buzz a simple song like Mary had a Little lamb. You learn some control by doing that.

A month from now if you practice every day then maybe it will be time and maybe your current teacher will give you some guidance by then.

Learning to play is a process. You can't be shown everything the 1st day. You wouldn't be able to do 98% of it.
You have to take it step by step.
_________________
Clint 'Pops' McLaughlin
You can always Google me.
50 years Teaching. Teaching and writing trumpet books is ALL I do.
7,000 pages of free music. Trumpet Books, Skype Lessons: www.BbTrumpet.com

[Billy B]

[TKSop]

[Rod Haney]

If you can (its hard) find a teacher who plays with the sound you like and who looks like its a pleasure to play when he does it. Learn his methods. Effortless playing is the key, how you get there and with who is the 64,000$ question. Watch Nakarov or Hardenberger or Vissutti play, notice the ease then listen to the sound. That’s my concept, but there are planets of people who will teach you how to do a lot of things, make sure effortless playing is one of them. If its physically hard to do its probably wrong IMO, not difficult - most is difficult at first - but causes strain that may not feel health, like excess pressure to the lip or lightheaded ness or worse when you try to play higher. I’m an ameture and still struggling to meet my own standards so this is just my opinion. I wish someone had gotten this thru to me in 1964, my life may have been quite different. ALWAYS remember it is much harder to correct a bad habit than form a good one.
Rod